The Waterloo Campaign in 100 Locations

By John Grehan

In the 200 years since the famous battle in the muddy, bloody fields of Waterloo, almost every aspect of the fighting has been examined and analyzed, apart from one – that of finding and illustrating locations relating to the campaign. From Napoleon’s landing on the Golfe Juan on France’s Côte d’Azur, along the Route Napoleon and through Grenoble, the Emperor’s journey back to Paris, and back to power, is shown in glorious full color.

In this beautifully produced book, we see where Napoleon distributed the Imperial Eagles to the regiments of his army, and where his forces assembled before marching to war, and where the Due of Wellington’s Anglo-Allied army gathered in Brussels. The camera follows the initial encounters on the banks of the River Sambre and the maneuvering of the French and Coalition forces leading to the first great battles of the campaign at Quatre Bras and Ligny. The key sites occupied by the opposing armies at these battles are investigated as are the routes of the withdrawal to Mont St Jean by Wellington’s army and to Wavre by Blücher’s Prussians.

The Waterloo battlefield and its associated buildings are examined in pictorial detail, as are the locations which marked the pivotal moments of the battle. The sites of the corresponding battle at Wavre are also shown, as well as the pursuit of the two wings of beaten French Army, including the sieges of the fortresses by the British army, before Paris was finally reached. The uprising in the Vendée and the last clashes of the campaign before Napoleon’s abdication are also featured.

The book closes with Napoleon’s journey from Paris to St Helena via l'Île d’Aix and Plymouth.

Headquarters buildings, observation posts, monuments and memorials, bridges and battlefields, and the principal locations of the campaign are portrayed in unique photographs – and behind every plague and place is a tale of political posturing, military maneuvering, sacrifice and savagery. Together these images tell the story of Napoleon’s greatest gamble, and we know that a picture is worth a thousand words!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Nov 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781526746924

John Grehan

JOHN GREHAN has written, edited or contributed to more than 300 books and magazine articles covering a wide span of military history from the Iron Age to the recent conflict in Afghanistan. John has also appeared on local and national radio and television to advise on military history topics. He was employed as the Assistant Editor of Britain at War Magazine from its inception until 2014. John now devotes his time to writing and editing books.

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1: Hofburg Palace, Vienna

Location: Michaelerkuppel, 1010 Wien

Map Coordinates: 48°12ʹ27.9ʺN 16°21ʹ57.8ʺE; Decimal: 48.207737, 16.366054

The grand capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire thronged with the great and the good of Europe. The blond, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, whose armies had marched into Paris when the defeated former Emperor of the French had been exiled, could be seen in the company of such noblemen as King Frederick William III of Prussia and the greatest undefeated general of the era, the Duke of Wellington.

Most of the nations of Europe had sent high-ranking representatives to Vienna to re-draw the map of Europe after Napoleon’s exile. As befitted the usual haunts of the princes, barons and marquis who had gathered to thrash out the deals between the major powers, much of the negotiating took place not in official government buildings, but informally at salons, banquets, and balls.

There was, though, behind the gilded glamour, a great deal of hard bargaining, for much was at stake. The very future of Europe was in the hands of these dignitaries and diplomates. Representatives from more than 200 states and princely houses were joined by city corporations and religious groups, including a cardinal from the Papal States.

The Congress had opened in November 1814, with the aim of creating a stable continent after the upheavals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars which had ravaged Europe for two decades. The aim was to balance the strength of the major Powers, so that no single country could ever again risk war against another. What this really meant was, of course, that France lost all the land it had acquired during the wars, and that the victors, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, gained appreciable territory. Britain, which had no interest in continental acquisitions, was content to receive official acceptance of its already-conquered overseas territories.

With such grand and complex objectives, the negotiations proved, understandably, far from easy. There were, though, many glamourous distractions. Typical of these was a performance of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, conducted by Beethoven himself in grand ballroom of the Redoutensaal of the Hofburg Palace. The Hofburg was also the scene of a magnificent ball in January, where dancers and musicians swept around the hall, lit by a thousand shimmering lights.¹

The Hofburg is now the official residence of the President of Austria and is open to the public.

The winter months passed by with no settlement in sight, but then some alarming news from the south of France focussed the minds of the delegates. A sudden unanimity was forged, as the Duke of Wellington told Viscount Castlereagh, the British Foreign Secretary, on 12 March 1815: ‘I received here on the 7th inst. a despatch … giving an account that Buonaparte had quitted the island of Elba, with all his civil and military officers, and about 1200 troupes [sic], on the 26th Feb. I immediately communicated this account to the emperors of Austria and Russia, and to the King of Prussia, and to the ministers of the different Powers; and I found among all one prevailing sentiment, of a determination to unite their efforts.’²

Those united efforts were to defend the recently-installed King Louis XVIII, who had also learned that Napoleon had landed on the French coast – at a small fishing port called Golfe-Juan.

Behind the scenes, there was hard bargaining around the conference table. (A.S.K. Brown)

2: Villa dei Mulini, Portoferraio, Elba

Location: Palazzina Napoleonica dei Mulini, 57037 Portoferraio, Elba.

Map Coordinates: 42°49ʹ00.9ʺN 10°19ʹ55.8ʺE; Decimal: 42.816908, 10.332162

Napoleon Bonaparte, still retaining the title of Emperor, had been declared sovereign of the Island of Elba, arriving at there on 11 April 1814, after being compelled to abdicate the throne of France. He was granted an annual allowance of 3 million francs (to be paid by France) and was permitted to take with him 600 soldiers of the Old Guard. Crucially, Napoleon’s wife, the Austrian princess, Empress Marie Louise, was not allowed to go with him, nor was his son, the Roi de Rome.

From the outset, Napoleon was fearful of his life. He was still regarded as a threat to King Louis, and the monarch’s brother, the Count of Artois, made no secret of his desire to rid the world of the ‘evil creature’. Such concerns increased as the months passed, and the restored Bourbon dynasty became increasingly unpopular.

With France no longer on a war footing, large numbers of Napoleon’s former soldiers found themselves thrown onto the streets with no employment and no money. The army had been reduced from 500,000 to just 200,000, with the ranks of the unemployed being swollen by the return of 400,000 prisoners of war. Men who had marched in triumph through the capitals of Europe found themselves in idle penury, pawning their weapons for food. Even officers, the elite of the First Empire, were, in some instances, so poor that groups of friends might be formed to share a hat and greatcoat, taking turns to go out in public.³

A view of Portoferraio with the Villa dei Mulini on the left middle distance on the road near the cliff.

Napoleon had been kept informed about conditions in France, not only from admirers in France but also from former army officers who visited the island in the summer of 1814, and he was well aware of the growing dissatisfaction throughout much of the country. This sentiment was not just felt amongst the military, but across other elements of society, with returning emigres being given plum government jobs, the incumbents being sent into retirement.

While the Emperor pondered on the course of events in France, he reorganised Elba’s defences and brought the urban areas up to the most modern standards of public hygiene. This included completely refurbishing and extending the somewhat dilapidated building that would become his principal home, the Villa dei Mulini, literally, the Villa of the Mills, situated high above the island’s main harbour, Portoferraio.

Such projects cost money, and King Louis reneged on the financial arrangements agreed when Napoleon abdicated. By late 1814, Napoleon was already in difficulties. Facing financial ruin, with no prospect of ever receiving any of his allowance and believing that the Bourbons had become so hated the French people would welcome a return to the glory days of the First Empire, Napoleon decided to act.

Taking advantage of the British officer responsible for keeping an eye on Napoleon, Colonel Neil Campbell, visiting the Italian mainland to visit his mistress, on 26 February 1815, the Emperor embarked on his most audacious enterprise – the invasion of France.

Napoleon’s former home at Portoferraio, the Villa dei Mulini, is now a national museum and is open to the public.

Napoleon’s field bed can still be seen in the villa. (Dominique Timmermans)

3: Golfe-Juan

Location: Avenue des Frères Roustan, 06220 Vallauris, France

Map Coordinates: 43°33ʹ57.9ʺN 7°04ʹ30.1ʺE; Decimal: 43.566086, 7.075033

History is littered with irony, and it must have been with an ironic frown on his brow that Napoleon viewed the bayonets of the men he used to command defying him from the battlements of the Graillon Battery on the tip of the Cap d’Antibes. For it was Napoleon himself who, in 1794, had been assigned the task of inspecting France’s coastal military batteries, and had seen the importance of this post, thus rebuilding its dilapidated defences and arming it with sixteen cannon. Now it stood defiantly in his path, and there was nothing he could do about it. Irony indeed.

Napoleon had sailed in the twenty-six-gun brig Inconstant on 26 February 1815, accompanied by the French merchant brig Saint Esprit, the six-gun bombard Étoile, and four other vessels, and, having slipped past the patrolling warships of the Royal Navy, reached the French coast on 1 March. It was at the little fishing village of Golfe-Juan near Antibes that his grenadiers leapt into the water with their muskets held aloft, to secure a landing place. Fortunately for the tiny invasion force of around 1,000 men, a pair of 4-pounder guns and a handful of horses,⁴ the guns of the Graillon Battery had recently been removed – France, after all, was now at peace.

The stone marking the place where Napoleon set foot once again in France.

As the troops reached the shore, Napoleon ordered Brigadier General Pierre Cambronne to take fifty men to form the advance guard and to move along the Fréjus road in the direction of Cannes. The Emperor told Cambronne, ‘General, I entrust you with my finest campaign. You won’t have to fire a single shot. You’ll only find friends.’⁵

The people in this deep Catholic south, unfortunately, were conservative royalists and had no love for the Corsican usurper. There were no friends here.

Nevertheless, Napoleon sent Captain Bertrand to the fortress of Antibes, Fort Carré (where Napoleon had been imprisoned in 1794) with a proclamation from the Emperor. Neither he nor the proclamation were well-received. Bertrand was seized and held, and a small body of Grenadiers and Chasseurs of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard who had encroached upon the glacis were persuaded to put down their weapons by the composed ranks of the garrison’s 87th Regiment of the Line.

A plaque on the wall by the entrance to the Chapelle Saint-Esprit d’Antibes on Rue Saint-Esprit in Antibes commemorates where members of the Old Guard were held on 1 March after surrendering to the garrison. (Dominique Timmermans)

The still formidable walls of Fort Carré.

It was not until 23.00 hours that Napoleon finally conceded that his first attempt at re-conquest had failed. Whilst it was not unsurprising that Antibes had refused to open its gates to him, such a rebuff did not augur well for the perilous task ahead.

The actual place where Napoleon first set foot on France once again is marked by a memorial on the Avenue des Frères Roustan. Directly opposite is the start of the Route Napoleon which leads all the way to Grenoble.

Two views of the starting point of the Route Napoleon.

4: L’Église Notre-Dame du Bon Voyage, Cannes

Location: 2 Rue Notre Dame, 06400 Cannes, France

Map Coordinates: 43°33ʹ06.0ʺN 7°01ʹ07.2ʺE; Decimal: 43.551659, 7.018669

Having finally accepted that the people of Antibes were not going to open their gates to him, Napoleon set off for Cannes and the long march to Paris. That the townsfolk of Antibes had been reluctant to welcome him was no surprise, but he had expected its garrison, the 87th Line Regiment, to rush to join the man who had brought so many victories to French arms.

The excitement of the invasion had faded, and Napoleon’s small force set off with less enthusiasm than when it had landed. ‘The first march was made in silence,’ recalled Guillaume Peyrusse, the man responsible for the expedition’s military chest. ‘We were embarked on a most perilous enterprise.’

Cannes, which had been occupied by Cambronne’s Grenadiers and Chasseurs since 17.00 hours the day before, was just an hour’s march away. Once again, Napoleon was not well received by the major of Cannes, who told him that, ‘We have just begun to be happy and tranquil. And here you come upsetting everything.’ Nevertheless, the troops were allowed to rest for a while on the beach near the Église de Notre-Dame du Bon Voyage and, after obtaining what provisions they could, Napoleon’s men marched out of Cannes at 03.00 hours on the morning of 2 March, with Cambronne again moving ahead, this time to the town of Grasse on the lower slopes of the Maritime Alps. This town, with its large working-class population, had already begun to resent the returned émigrés, and when Napoleon entered Grasse at around 05.00 hours that morning the people turned out to greet him with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm.

The Église de Notre-Dame du Bon Voyage in the narrow streets near the sea front at Cannes.

The plaque on the side of the church which marks the site of Napoleon’s first bivouac on his march back to Paris.

At Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, Napoleon stopped to rest on a circular stone seat set around an elm tree on 2 March. There is also a bust of the Emperor across the road from the seat.

This house in Barrême, situated between Grasse and Digne, where Napoleon and his staff stayed overnight on 3-4 March was, at the time, the finest in the village. The house was later cut in half when the road was widened.

After lunch, Napoleon’s little band marched on, for the Emperor knew only too well that soon the news of his landing would reach Paris and the longer he took to reach the capital, the more time he gave the Royalists to coordinate their response. On then, on to Paris.

Success in the venture depended on ‘swiftly seizing Grenoble,’ declared Napoleon, ‘where there was a numerous garrison, an arsenal, cannon; in a word, all sorts of assets, and in assuring myself of the troops. And above all in not wasting time.’⁶ The Emperor spent the night of the 2nd at the home of the Mayor of Grasse, the Marquess of Gourdon, at his Château de Brondet. It is said that Napoleon settled down and slept fully dressed in a Louis XIII armchair.

From Grasse, the now happier band, marched, ‘with drums beating and music at their head’⁷ through Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, Castellane, Digne-les-Bains, Sisteron and then Gap.

5: Gap, Hautes-Alpes

Location: N85, 05000 Gap, Hautes-Alpes

Map Coordinates: 44°31ʹ05.0ʺN 6°03ʹ07.0ʺE; Decimal: 44.518056, 6.051944

On 5 March, Napoleon’s little band reached Gap, where the Emperor was ‘enthusiastically’ received, with Napoleon’s troops joining the locals in singing the ‘Marseillaise’, the song of the Revolution. In many people’s eyes, Napoleon was the embodiment of the Revolution, the spirit of which was rising again in the populace as the people of Gap cried: ‘Down with the Aristocracy’.

Colonel Fantin des Odoards has left us an account of the events on the day that Napoleon arrived at Gap. He was instructed by the general commanding the Hautes-Alpes district that he should take command of the local National Guard to oppose Napoleon. On the other hand, many people were saying to him that the momentum was gathering in support of the Emperor and that he would be wise to join, rather than resist, Napoleon.

Not sure which path he should take, he reached Gap when Napoleon, ‘suddenly dropped like a bomb in the middle of the town, escorted by those henchmen who had been able to keep up with his rapid progress. Shouts of "Vive l’Empereur!" Were instantly to be heard on every side as excited inhabitants thronged the streets. The shadows gave way to an impoverished illumination, and almost at once the inn where I was waiting for horses filled with members of the Imperial Guard in search of a bed and a meal.

‘I was in the throes of a painful struggle. Honour and duty dictated that I should persist in my resolve not to break the recent oaths binding me to a government which I disliked but had promised to serve loyally; yet my personal wishes and my memories tugged me towards Napoleon. Concealed in an obscure back room, I felt my heart throbbing violently, and at each pulse beat I was on the point of emerging from my hiding place and throwing myself into the arms of old comrades of the Guard whose voices I recognized, and of saying to them: Take me to Napoleon.’.⁸

Colonel Odoards’ sentiments typified the conflicting emotions so many of Napoleon’s former soldiers felt at the return of the Emperor. The townsfolk of Gap, though, had no doubt and, such was their welcome, Napoleon issued a proclamation from Gap, in which he thanked the townsfolk for their support and ended with these words: ‘In whatever circumstances I might find myself in, I will always remember with great interest, all that I have seen while crossing your country.’

With the cheers of the people ringing in their ears, Napoleon’s men marched on to La Mure. It was to this commune that Lieutenant General Marchand had sent a battalion of the 5th Regiment under Colonel Lessard from Grenoble. But, with the news of Napoleon’s now triumphant return, there was growing disaffection amongst the troops, and the word was spread that the men of the 5th would not oppose the Emperor. Lessard therefore withdrew his troops to an easily defended defile at Laffrey.

A copy of Napoleon’s proclamation can be found close to the Imperial Eagle at Gap.

6: Laffrey, Isère

Location: 38220 Laffrey, Isère France

Map Coordinates: 45°01ʹ06.2ʺN 5°46ʹ34.0ʺE; Decimal: 45.018400, 5.776100

The little village of Laffrey, whose population of less than 400 is little different today than it was 200 years ago, lies just 16 miles from Grenoble. By the time Napoleon had reached Laffrey, the news of the landing had reached Paris and had been announced in the press. The government’s mouthpiece, Le Moniteur, attempted to paint a picture of widespread opposition to Napoleon: ‘Letters from Grenoble, dated the morning of the 5th, announce that the moment that the news of the landing was spread in the town … cries of Vive le Roi was heard on all sides … The troops composing the garrison participated in these feelings.’⁹

If these reports were true, Napoleon’s great venture would end at the gates of Grenoble. The next few hours would prove critical.

Colonel Lessard withdrew from La Mure to Laffrey where his battalion of the 5th Regiment and a company of sappers deployed to block the road. The following day, 5 March, the Grenadiers and Chasseurs of the Guard appeared at the head of Napoleon’s force, moving up to within musket range of the front rank of the 5th Regiment.